It goes by many names. Apparently the best name is "honing steel" as per Razor & wikipedia. I've always called it a sharpening rod but it's really not for sharpening, it's just for cleaning up minor imperfections. The wikipedia article explains it pretty clearly. There are plenty of other explanations out there if you'd care to look for them.

Yes, I read the Wikipedia page you linked the last time thequestion of the proper name for the thing came up, a fewmonths ago. I already knew that it is for straightening bentedges, not "honing". What I did not know is that the word"burnishing" could describe what it does. It is a synonymfor "smoothing". I guess that works. It is certainly betterthan "honing" or "sharpening". But what I'm trying to findout is how many people know that. The article doesn't saythat anyone calls it a "burnishing steel".

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